


Ickle Shelly

by fujiidom, mrsvc, sinstralpride, Southern_Heaven



Category: Big Bang Theory
Genre: Age Regression, F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2009-12-27
Updated: 2009-12-27
Packaged: 2017-10-05 08:55:59
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 8,090
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/39933
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/fujiidom/pseuds/fujiidom, https://archiveofourown.org/users/mrsvc/pseuds/mrsvc, https://archiveofourown.org/users/sinstralpride/pseuds/sinstralpride, https://archiveofourown.org/users/Southern_Heaven/pseuds/Southern_Heaven
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>When Sheldon is caught in a lab accident, he becomes everyone's worst nightmare: LITTLE SHELDON.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> This fic is a long time coming. It began as a comment fic in April and continued to grow through May. We all got distracted over the summer, but now have put the finishing touches on it. Thank you to TV Tropes, free time, and our friends who have been hit with our tweets about this fic.

"Well, it appears I have been reduced to the exact physical specifications that I was as an eleven year old boy," a tiny Sheldon announced as he left the bathroom. Leonard had already loaned him a small, white shirt. Howard had gone home to find him some pants he had worn in high school. Sheldon held the ruler out to Leonard who was reluctant to take it. He didn't know what all Sheldon had measured with that.

"But ...Sheldon ...what are you going to do?"

"Until I can find the exact chemical compound of the goo that splattered on me and find an antidote, I shall have to remain as a child, in body only."

Howard rushed through the door with a small pile of clothes he had dug out of his mother's attic where she kept all sorts of mementos of his youth. He handed Sheldon a pair of shorts that fit in the waist, but were barely long enough to look like capris. Sheldon thought it much better than standing there in too-big briefs he had safety pinned to fit his waist (he would have to make due until he and Leonard could get to the store). Howard handed him a lime green leather jacket with a darker green suede diamond sewn on the back.

"Howard, what the hell is that?" Raj piped up.

"And why the hell did you keep it?" Leonard had to add, his face scrunched up in the ever popular expression of curiosity and complete befuddlement.

"Hey, don't knock the swagger, boys. I almost lost my virginity in that jacket. Twice!"

Sheldon slipped it to find it too tight in the shoulders but almost right in the sleeves.

"'Almost' being the key word, I presume?"

"Wow, even when he's little, you just want to-" Howard lowered a clenched fist and trailed off, slumping onto the couch.

"Do you have any clue about what chemicals were poured on you?"

"My only clues were its color and smell. I have my clothes in a sealed container in my room and have taken several samples in order to test further, when I can." Sheldon inspected his clothes but found his bare feet were getting colder and colder. "As I seem to be passably clothed," he didn't looked at all pleased, but they imagined he was humoring them, "I am only in want of shoes and socks."

"What size foot to do you have?"

"A four in men's."

"A four in men's!?" the three shouted together.

"That's awful big for eleven," Leonard said.

"Yes, my first growth spurt at age eleven went directly to my hands, feet, and ears. The second increased my height to match this extremities."

"Well, that'll leave all of us out," Raj motioned around the room. "Howard's a size seven, Leonard's a nine, I'm a ten, and all your shoes are elevens, Sheldon." Sheldon tried to roll his sleeve up when the door burst open.

"Hello, Penny," Sheldon said, still fidgeting with his sleeve.

"Hey, guys..." she stopped short when she saw the boy in the middle of the room. "Aww, who's the kid?" she went right over to him, crouching down. "Hello, I'm Penny! You must be Sheldon's ...nephew? You look just like tiny him!" Leonard tried to get her attention but couldn't. "Aren't you a handsome little devil, huh?" she tried to pinch his cheek but Sheldon moved from her grasp.

"Nobody pinches my cheeks but Mee Maw."

Penny couldn't help but laugh. "His sister's in for a ride, she's made a little mini-Sheldon."

"Penny, Sheldon doesn't have any nephews."

"What, did he clone himself ten years ago and the surrogate got sick of him and bring him to back to himself or something?" she chuckled at her own, badly-played joke.

"I haven't cloned myself ...yet. The technology is still too iffy."

"Penny," Leonard cleared his throat and tried to put on his most reassuring smile, "Sheldon was in an accident today in the chemistry lab and well, an unknown solution of chemicals dumped on him and..." Leonard just motioned up and down at the young Sheldon standing before them. Penny's face cycled through about seven different emotions before she settled on 'freaked out.'

"I don't believe this ...Sheldon! What were you even doing in the chemistry lab? Don't you work with numbers and whiteboards and little particles that no one can see?"

"I was studying the effects of those tiny particles on the viscosity of different substances with an emphasis on mass versus matter." Penny looked at him disbelievingly. "I know, I know, the answer is quite elementary to me but this research was for a colleague and they wished to have my help in their observations."

"I'm leaving. This is really creepy."

"Wait, Penny, what size shoe do you wear?" Howard asked as she made for the door.

"Ew, Howard, please. I do not need to hear about your foot fetish right now."

"No, Sheldon needs shoes."

"I'm a size six."

"That's perfect!" Howard said. "Take Mini-Monster with you."

"How is that 'perfect', Howard?"

"A six is women's is a four in men's."

"Come on, Tiny Tim," she sighed, knowing she was going to regret this, "let's go shoe shopping."

"I would hardly call it shopping in your closet, Penny. I've seen your entire selection of shoes. I very much doubt there are any in there that I can wear and keep my sexual identity intact."

"Sheldon, can you really not talk like that when you're seven?"

"I'm eleven, thank you very much," he said as he shut the door.

"How come Sheldon's been in her closet and we never have?" Howard had to ask.

Leonard wasn't feeling quite up to answering that.

 

*************

 

"Here's a pair of socks for you..."

"Penny, these have little yellow flowers on them. Do you own any plain, white socks?" She dug deeper in the drawer and found two plain ones that didn't match. He sneered at the idea and put the little yellow flower socks on. She dug into her closet now, looking the old pair of tennis shoes she used to wear to work.

"I organized your closet for you once, Penny. You should have maintained that."

"You think I could keep it as," she grunted as she tried to pull the sneaker from the depths of her closet, "clean ...as ...you?!" She threw him one dirty white sneaker with ketchup stains on the toe.

"I left you an organizational chart." She threw him the other sneaker and stood back up.

"And I threw it out. Now, put on the damn shoes!"

They were a bit snug, but Sheldon kept that to himself.

 

*************

 

"So, how long are you -," she motioned at his general four-foot-something presence.

"Stuck in a prepubescent version of my own body?"

She gave an awkward half-smile and tilted her head downwards. "Well, yeah."

"Hopefully by next week, I'll be back to normal. Depending upon the lab results for the goo samples I'm having tested."

"Goo?"

"Yes, goo."

"Okay. Well, I'm just going to go eat lunch, before my brain implodes. This is getting weirder and weirder by the minute." She made a face and slowly moved to exit.

"What do you plan on eating?" He skidded the ground with the tip of one of her tennis shoes, trying to look disinterested. God, he really was back in an eleven-year-old's body. Her little cousin did the same damn thing.

"Sheldon," she sighed and her voice wavered. She was going to regret this. "Do you want to eat lunch with me? Do you want me to make you lunch?"

"I don't know, maybe," he mumbled, foot still dragging around in small circular patterns on the hardwood. His head was turned towards the carpet. "What would you be making?"

She huffed. "Whatever you want, I guess."

He paused to turn up and meet her already exhausted gaze. A smile crept over his face that made Penny give a little shudder. Age be damned, Sheldon Cooper was Sheldon Cooper.

"On Tuesdays, I normally have a bacon, lettuce, and tomato club sandwich. Lightly toasted with thinly cut tomatoes, please."

She crossed the room and set about finding the ingredients in their refrigerator.

She tried not to get mad when he corrected the temperatures (which she had to adjust, since he couldn't reach the knobs or see the inside the frying pan) and critiqued her methods for cooking the bacon (you always let them simmer).

When she made a second sandwich, he snatched it up before she could protest. Rolling her eyes, she simply made a third. She made sure she touched the hell out of that one, before shifting it onto a plate. Yet, his hand tried to delicately transfer it to his plate before she smacked away his hand, anyway. "Ah, ah, ah! That's got cooties." She was biting off a piece before he could say anything in reply. "But seriously, three?" She mumbled over a mouthful.

"I'm a growing boy, Penny. I have a much higher metabolism."

"Well, three BLT sandwiches is too much. Plus, it's already three o'clock and it'll spoil your dinner."

He rolled his eyes and huffily crossed his arms. "Thanks for looking out for my well-being, Mother."

She fixed him the death glare and his eleven-year-old instincts kicked in, leaving him terrified looking.

"And thank you, for cooking," he added meek and pale-faced. "Penny."

She couldn't help it: she reached across the coffee table and ruffled his lighter-than-normal brown hair. Even if it was gone in the next second, there was a brief smile that flitted across his adolescent face.

He continued to eye her plate, looking hungry.

She finished her sandwich and disappeared across the hall for a few minutes only to return with a Family Size bag of Old Bay potato chips.

His eyes lit up and he almost dropped the dry erase marker he'd had grasped in his left hand. His mouth opened and closed a few times before he found words. "I didn't think they made them that large! Not for Old Bay!"

"I flirted with the delivery guy and now he accidentally brings a bag over from the factory, once a week or so. Leaves it in the back room. Pretty awesome, right?"

"'Pretty awesome,' indeed! Are those meant to be shared?" He was already moving to sit in his spot and barely stopping his hand from delving into the bag.

"Of course!" He grabbed a handful and she tilted the bag back in her direction. He switched on the TV and they searched for something they both agreed upon.

They watched Dr. Cox get Eliot to burst into tears in four different reruns and enjoyed the rest of a mid-day marathon while squabbling over who got to finish off the bag.

In the end, Sheldon did. It's just that ...his freckles were so much more visible like this and how do you say no to those puppy-dog baby blues? You couldn't, because she sure couldn't.

Plus, how many chances does someone get to see any version of Sheldon Cooper tip a greasy aluminum bag back into his mouth to gobble up communal chip crumbs?

Yeah, that was pretty awesome, too.

 

*************

 

Whatever issues Leonard might have with his roommate when Sheldon was normal-sized and bossy (and there were many) seemed to have dissolved the minute he saw mini-Sheldon asleep.

He'd been working on his laptop – contacting colleagues from the Chemistry department and performing simple, preliminary tests on a swatch of goo-laden material he'd cut from his shirt – but the disparity between his current size and the proportions of his desk quickly became obvious.

With a huffy breath, Sheldon had surveyed the geekscape of their living room and quickly decided on an alternative. Not saying one word to Leonard, he'd begun ferrying his test materials, laptop, power cords, manila folders, and composition notebooks over to the perpetually-bare coffee table. Once there he proceeded to set up his work area in more 11-year-old-friendly proportions.

The cushion from his spot was placed on the floor to give him the necessary height to work on the coffee table-top and he'd resumed his intense research and testing, with the air of a mad-scientist-child fully capable of building another sonic death ray.

Leonard just hoped he had kept the attention span of an adult and wouldn't actually attempt to create another death ray with the knowledge he'd gained since childhood.

"Sheldon, I'm going to go talk to the guys in the Chem lab, to see if they've figured anything out yet. Are you going to be ok here on your own? Penny is just across the hall if you need anything."

"Leonard, I may be trapped in the body of my 11-year-old self, but neither my intelligence nor my ability to use the basic numerical sequence '9-1-1' have been diminished along with my stature. I can manage to research on my own now, just as well as I could have two days ago."

"Ok, then I'll just ...go talk to the guys at the lab."

Leonard grabbed his keys from the bowl and left the apartment with a single backwards glance. Looking at the tiny genius playing with potentially dangerous chemicals in his living room, he forcibly pushed aside his worry and reminded himself that this wasn't a normal 11-year-old and he wasn't Sheldon's father, therefore he was not his responsibility. As much as he wanted to take away the chemistry set replace it with a X-Men figurine or Avengers comic book, he didn't.

As much as he wanted to give Sheldon at least one day to be a normal 11-year-old, he couldn't.

*************

As he climbed the stairs to his apartment, Leonard hoped that there was still an apartment to return to. He was greatly relieved to see that it seemed to be intact when he opened the door, but was mildly worried by the lack of tiny Sheldon working maniacally at the coffee table.

"Sheldon? Are you in your room?"

He dropped his keys back into the bowl with a small clink and surveyed the mess on the table more carefully. Some of the more inert chemicals still sat next to the innocently humming laptop and the stacks of folders, but he was relieved to see the more dangerous ones had been stoppered and put away. Just as he was beginning to really worry about Sheldon's location a glimmer of bright orange caught his eye. There was Sheldon, tucked up alongside the coffee table with his head resting on his cushion, tiny fingers grasping a composition notebook, and his right thumb tucked firmly in his mouth.

 

*************

 

On Wednesday, Leonard saw the forecast called for thunderstorms all night. He looked over at his tiny friend to see him pale slightly as the weatherman added a slew of lightning bolts to the weather map. He remembered once when Sheldon's mother had told him how frightened Sheldon had been of thunderstorms as a child.

She said the wind and thunder would shake their trailer so bad dishes would fall out of the cabinets. She said she had asked Sheldon about it when he was younger. She quoted him back to Leonard.

"Mother, it's just like your fear of snakes. I tell you the binomial nomenclature and assure you that the snake is not venomous but does that lessen your innate fear?" She had had to ask Sheldon what those words meant.

On Thursday morning, Leonard woke up to a shoulder pressing into his back. He rolled over to see lightening flash outside and Sheldon curled up under his comforter. Leonard got up and got ready for work and didn't mention anything to Sheldon that day.

On Friday, he tucked Sheldon in a little tighter before smoothing the hair away from his face and reminding himself to get Sheldon's hair cut.

On Saturday, he woke up alone because the rain had finally stopped and he realized that maybe adult Sheldon needed him more than he let onto.

 

*************

 

It seemed that Sheldon's tastes in television had matured, but stayed the same. He still spent the first two hours after breakfast of his Saturday mornings before the TV, engrossed in watching Jon Pertwee do battle with tipped over trashcans to predictable ends.

When the credits rolled on PBS, Sheldon unfailingly flipped to How It's Made. He could find it on some channel at any hour of the day, it seemed. The adult Sheldon had little time for such shows, but young Sheldon had a keen interest in how stuff worked as demonstrated by the boxes of disassembled things in his room. (Some he had lost interest in reassembling. Some he had gotten frustrated with and abandoned.)

At just before eleven o'clock he would inform Leonard that he was going to visit Penny before dashing off.

Leonard was not entirely sure what happened in Penny's apartment from 11 o'clock until noon, when Sheldon would reappear demanding lunch. He could hear Penny giggling, but nothing from Sheldon. When questioned, Penny pled the fifth.

"It is what you would call 'bonding time'," she would insist before dissolving into giggles and refusing to say anymore.

 

*************

 

The answer came when he wasn't even looking for it.

"Leonard," Sheldon announced, "I have found an item I wish to purchase for Penny. I need your assistance to get to our local retail carrier."

"Well, what is it?"

"I have noticed commercials for a Dolphin Princess Undine doll that I believe she would enjoy."

Leonard looked up from the crossword he had been working on.

"How do you know Penny likes Dolphin Princess Undine?"

"She may have mentioned it in passing," Sheldon mumbled, looking down at his feet.

"Well, what kind of doll is it?"

"A posable figurine of Dolphin Princess Undine which comes with her court flippers, battle flippers, comb, heirloom shell necklace, two sets of jewel stickers, coronet, and her faithful companion Pax the snappily-dressed turtle."

Suddenly, everything clicked.

Leonard tried to maintain his composure, but could not keep a straight face with the facts laid out before him.

"You watch Dolphin Princess Undine?!"

He did not hear Sheldon's retort over his own laughter, but he did hear the front door slam as Sheldon fled the apartment.

 

*************

 

He laid the box gently on the conveyor belt and moved forward along with Leonard, down the small aisle.

"Hello there, sweetheart!" The older, graying cashier smiled down at Sheldon. "What can I help you with today?"

"I would like to purchase this." Sheldon pushed the doll's box further forward. He had to stand on tip-toes to get it all the way to the front of the check-out's surface. "That is all."

"Oh, my. That's awful pretty!" She scanned the underside a few times, but the machine didn't seem to recognize the bar-code. She started typing numbers into the computer, instead. "Is this a present, or are you a fan of hers?"

"While I enjoy the homonymic play on words referencing mythological water nymphs, most likely of Germanic origin, this is for someone else." The cashier boggled down at him and had to restart the keying sequence. Leonard bumped his side, worried they were drawing too much attention to themselves. "Too much pink."

"Ah, yes." The machine finally beeped and the screen displayed the price and tax. "That will be 21.19, honey."

Sheldon handed over the money in his left hand. "That's exact, I did the math in my head on the way to the front."

The cashier smiled warmly, counting the bills and change. "Well, whoever you're giving this to, I hope she knows what a lucky girl she is. Having a catch like you out using his gifted little mind to buy her nice pink things - you're darling."

Sheldon blushed, said his thanks and ran off with the box in a plastic bag before she could say anything more to him.

Leonard waited until the receipt printed and drummed his knuckles across where people signed checks and above dotted lines.

"You've got a good one, there. Seems a bit rough around the edges, but anyone with a brain that big out getting little presents like that- I'd definitely say you've got a good one."

Leonard nodded.

 

*************

 

Leonard was tired of watching Sheldon bounce around the apartment, reading and re-reading every comic they collectively owned, so he took him to a baseball game. He planned it just right so that it was Dime a Dog night down at the local minor league stadium and he called up Howard and Raj.

Sheldon sat in his seat, a notebook on his knee, shouting at the pitcher to "lower your arc" and to "increase velocity." Leonard smiled as Sheldon asked for another hot dog and fished another dime out of his pocket. Howard and Raj jumped up from their seats, beer sloshing on their shirts as they ran up to talk to a couple of bosomy blonds in the nosebleeds.

"I didn't know you liked baseball, Sheldon. You never watch it at home."

"I don't like to watch it on the television. They do all the statistics for you. I can't trust them."

By the ninth inning, Sheldon had worked out all the statistics for every player on the field, the ERA for each pitcher, and the average duration of an at bat. Howard and Raj had returned, defeated, and Leonard had bought them all hats.

"We'll have to do this again, Sheldon."

"Yes," he agreed, smiling up at Leonard's face.

"Maybe we'll get tickets to a major league game next time."

"Do they do Dime a Dog at major league games?!" were the first panicked words from his mouth. Leonard chuckled and flicked the lip of Sheldon's hat down over his eyes.

"If they don't, we won't go." Sheldon took yet another bite of his eleventh hot dog and wiped the ketchup from his chin.

"Thanks for bringing me along, Leonard."

"You got it, buddy."

 

*************

 

The first time she had seen Sheldon cry was when he had fallen down off the table in the lobby trying to get their mail. He'd raced up the stairs and pounded until he received an answer. Leonard had heard the commotion and threw open his door to see Penny kneeling on the floor, rubbing Neosporin on a cut and blowing on it to make it feel better. Sheldon rubbed his hand over his eyes, seeming slightly ashamed at crying but she just smiled and let her hand pat his cheek and he didn't seem to mind very much anymore. She had bought a big box of X-Men band aids when the movie had first come out and she stuck Wolverine to his elbow. Leonard smiled and patted his head as Sheldon walked past him, into their apartment and back to his computer.

"Leonard, what's happening?" Penny crossed her arms over her chest, feeling suddenly cold at the thought of what was becoming of Sheldon.

"He's regressing more than he'd anticipated..." Leonard sighed, rubbing a tired hand over his face. "He's still as brilliant as ever. He can still do his work just as well as he ever did but he didn't account for the fact that ...well, even he was an eleven year old boy once."

"How's the research coming?"

"He's going at it slower than he normally would. He's so busy getting distracted by ideas of Death Rays and animatronics again ...among other things."

"I want big Sheldon back," she sighed. "He might be annoying and condescending but I liked him just the way he was."

"Yeah, I did too." They watched as Sheldon tried his best to reach the Batman cookie jar but just couldn't make it.

 

*************

 

"Hey, bud," Leonard said, knocking on the open door to Sheldon's room.

"Hello, Leonard!" he said, setting his already opened action figures out on the floor. He was re-enacting one of the battles from the DC vs. Marvel crossover issues.

"How's the research coming on your goop?"

"I don't know," Sheldon said, trying to evade the discussion.

"You don't know? Sheldon, this is important. You need to get big again."

"What if I've discovered, quite by accident, the mythological elixir of the Philosopher's Stone, Ponce de Leon's Fountain of Youth? I could stay young forever!"

"Why would you want to do that?"

"Think of all I could discover if I perpetually de-aged myself and lived forever." Leonard moved from the door frame to sit next to Sheldon. He picked up Superman and started to fiddle with him before Sheldon took it from his hands and set it back in place.

"Buddy, you got to think through this."

"I already have."

"No, you haven't. You can't be Sheldon Cooper if you're eleven years old. If you stay like this, Sheldon Cooper has to disappear. He'll never win a Nobel for all he's already done. And you, you'll have to change your name, get fake certificates and a new social security number. You'll have to go to school for your PhDs all over again. You'll have to create you again but without being you. Do you understand?" Little Sheldon looked at his Green Lantern figurine before glancing up to Leonard's face.

"But, then I'll never get the Nobel for my work with string theory."

"No, you wouldn't."

"But I have to! It's brilliant. I can win even if I stay young."

"Yes, you could. But you couldn't go up and accept it." He picked up the Flash and turned his head to the left so he could face the Silver Surfer.

"Maybe I should work harder at being big again." Leonard put an arm around Sheldon and patted him on the shoulder, squeezing him just enough to let him know he supported him. It was something Leonard never would have done with adult Sheldon but maybe letting Sheldon know he supported him was something they had been missing from their friendship all these years.


	2. Chapter Two

Sheldon was still pouting when they made it to the movie theater. He had desperately wanted to see the midnight showing despite the effect it would have on his routine. The others had been concerned about being alert for work on Friday, and the wisdom in taking an eleven year old to see a film at midnight. As all responsible adults do, they left the bearing of the bad news to Leonard.

"Isn't it bedtime?" Leonard prodded, when Sheldon was still fully dressed at 10:30.

"Why, no. It is not. As you are well aware, the new Star Trek film will be released tonight at midnight. Having been unable to secure tickets to an advance screening, this will be the earliest chance I will have to see it."

Sheldon hadn't bothered to look up from the episode of Thunderbirds in which he was engrossed.

"I really think you should go to bed."

"Why? It is 10:32 p.m. Allowing for time to reach the theater and get seats with the optimal vantage point, it would be pointless for me to 'go to bed' at this point in time."

Leonard sighed and nervously looked down at his hands. Something told him that this might not be pretty. He took a deep breath and jammed his hands in his pockets.

"You'll want to go to bed because we're not going to the midnight showing."

Sheldon spun around faster than Leonard had previously supposed was humanly possible. He had murder in his eyes.

Leonard shifted his weight so that he could flee to his bedroom at a moment's notice.

"We all discussed it and we decided that it would be better to go tomorrow evening."

"I do not know who this 'we' you are discussing is, as I would be part of any 'we' which was discussing plans to see the new Star Trek film."

"We adults discussed it, Sheldon. Some of us have to go into work in the morning and we would be really tired if we went to see it."

"I was formerly an adult; why was I not included in the discussion?"

"For the time being, you're not an adult. Since you're not an adult, I'm telling you to go to bed."

"But—"

"Sheldon, do you want me to call your mother?"

"No," Sheldon moaned before extricating himself from his place on the couch and dragging himself back to his bedroom.

 

*************

 

While still not pleased with the decisions his supposed friends had made without consulting him, it did appease him slightly that the guys all took off of work early to go see a matinee.

Four minutes before the lights were to dim, Penny appeared at the front of the theater.

"Glad you could make it," Howard mumbled as Penny climbed over him to get to the seat Leonard had saved for her. She settled down in the seat between Sheldon and Leonard.

Sheldon peered past Penny at Leonard meaningfully.

"What?" Leonard said, giving a shrug, "I don't want both of you squeezing my hands at the scary parts. If you're next to one another, you can squeeze each other's."

"I resent the implication that I feel afraid while watching films such that I must do something as childish as squeezing someone's hand for comfort."

Leonard rolled his eyes and focused on making small talk with Penny. He'd convinced her to come, but only after e-mailing her pictures of Chris Pine every day for a week. Recognizing him from some chick flick, she'd agreed to come with them. Leonard wasn't quite sure Penny understood what she'd agreed to, but he hoped that the sight of a young, cadet Kirk would distract her from running from the theater screaming.

As soon as the car chase began, Sheldon and Penny were clinging to one another. Penny buried her face against Sheldon's seat and clutched his arm protesting that "she just couldn't watch". Sheldon was still watching, but he had a firm grasp on one of Penny's shoulders.

They continued this ritual throughout the film. During particularly scary scenes Sheldon would look away too. Leonard was beginning to wonder just how much of the film Sheldon and Penny were actually seeing. It seemed that every time he tore his eyes from the screen the two were cowering together.

 

*************

 

"That birthing scene was completely unnecessary to the plot of the film."

"I thought it was sweet. Kirk's dad got to meet him, even if for only a few minutes," Penny retorted, sounding a little hurt.

They'd been doing so well. Penny hadn't said a word during the film. Sheldon hadn't said anything about incorrect physics in the film. Wolowitz had stayed in his seat and not made any attempts to grope Penny. They made had made it half way across the lobby before Sheldon had upset her. At least he could count it as a new record.

"Just ignore him," Howard said from behind them. "He's Sheldon. The thought of anything coming out of a vagina disgusts him."

Sheldon looked back over his shoulder to glare at him. When it was apparent that he was set on continuing to do so Leonard took hold of him to steer him out of the path of other theater patrons.

"Neither vaginae, nor the thought of babies coming out of them disgust me. I understand that reproduction is essential to the continuation of the species, but I would prefer not to--"

"So what'd you think of Spock, Sheldon?" Leonard could only hope that the change of subject had come in time to save the conversation.

"I found him overly emotional."

Penny stopped in her tracks, forcing Raj to abruptly stumble aside to avoid walking into her.

"Overly emotional? Sheldon, his mom died and his planet got blown up."

"Yes Penny, but he is Vulcan. I am sure that you are completely unfamiliar with the canon so I will _attempt_ to explain it to you. The Vulcans live by a code of stoicism. Spock showing emotion in such a manner is completely against his nature and one of the major pillars of Vulcan society."

"So? He is half human."

"And a momma's boy," Leonard interjected, "you know how momma's boys are."

"I resent that." Howard muttered.

"Even so, the emotional show he put on was completely inappropriate for the character."

"Sheldon, think about it. How would you feel if your mom or, better yet, your mee-maw died?"

"I would be understandably bereaved."

She rolled her eyes at him. "Spock was bereaved too. He's only human."

"_Half_ human, Penny."

 

*************

 

It was her turn to drive Sheldon to the comic book store and she went over to their apartment expecting him to be bouncing around eating all the food in the place or checking his wristwatch (tightened five holes more than normal) before informing her of how late she was. It was only two minutes past five, so she didn't worry too much about it.

He was nowhere to be found. That was reason to worry.

She had been re-checking the time on her cell phone with the time displayed their stove-top (which is always Sheldon-approved) for a fourth time when she heard a hiccup echo through the hallway.

Her stomach lurched as she darted, full speed, to find the source of distress. Sheldon was sitting cross-legged on the floor in front of his bed, clutching dark blue photo album fiercely. Sobbing with abandon.

She immediately scooted onto her butt and shuffled over to cradle him against her side. Soothing a hand down his temples, she tried to get him to calm down some. To tell her what's so wrong.

He managed a watery, "I _m_-miss my _m_-mother." He's was silent for a moment as they locked eyes before bursting back into a fit of grief. "A lot.

"Aww, sweetie!" She was taking her own deep breaths, trying to remain calm. She really didn't know what to say, or how to say it. She went with straight-forward and honest, young or old, she was sure Sheldon would appreciate it. "That's okay, we all miss our Moms."

"It's stupid. I'm acting like--like a child! I wasn't like this when I was eleven! I hate it!"

"Sheldon, shhh!" She shook her head, stilling her hand and allowing him to just rest against her side.

He sniffed a bit, but his crying had ebbed for the time being.

He set the photo album down, softly. The room was quiet for a few moments.

She looked around and saw a tissue box all the way over on his nightstand. He'd latched onto her waist like she was his favorite stuffed Ewok, or something. She couldn't let go. Not when he was still so upset.

She's glad she wore a long sleeved shirt and it hadn't cost much, because Penny offered him a stretched-out sleeve end, before she could think twice about it. He accepted it, much to her disbelief. And dabbed at his eyes lightly before leaning, exhausted back against her.

She wrapped an arm, protective, around his diminutive frame. "Sheldon, when you were eleven you still had your Mom around. All the time, right?"

"Y-yeah, but she annoyed me. Constantly. I-I don't know w-why it hurts so much that she's n-not here, now."

"Because you're eleven, emotionally and physically. That's a hard time to be away from your mom, genius or not."

He looked like he wanted to say more to that, but didn't.

"I'm here, though," she said almost in a whisper.

His frown looked painfully inverted and his nodding became so emphatic that he was basically just rocking himself against her, after a minute or so. She rubbed his arm, gently and reassuringly.

When he fell asleep, she scooped him up and tucked him in as softly as possible. Although his head lolled around when she slipped her tennis shoes off his feet, if he woke back up he didn't let on. She gave him a quick peck on the forehead before snatching up the photo album and tip-toeing into the living room.

Comics would have to wait a few hours. She had a album to flip through and a few long-distance phone-calls to make.

 

*************

 

It took more nerve for Penny to pick up the phone and dial than she had expected. As the phone rang she wavered between hoping that the woman would pick up, and fearing screwing things up.

There was initially only the sound of shuffling on the other end of the line.

"Hello?" The voice was obviously Mrs. Cooper's.

"This is Penny. I live across the hall from Sheldon?"

"The blonde," Mrs. Cooper confirmed.

"That's right. You gave me your number and said I could call you if I needed advice. And... well, I need some. Badly."

"Hold on sweetie. Let me get another cigarette."

The phone clacked as it was set down. Penny worried her bottom lip between her teeth. After a minute of hushed crinkling and shuffling there was the sound of deep inhalation and a slow puff out.

"I'm back. You were gonna ask me somethin'?"

Penny cringed at how impossible it was to phrase this without sounding insane or at all validated in calling.

"Well, I've been part-time nannying my sister's husband's cou-," she coughed, "little boy. I thought I'd call someone I know whose dealt with someone ...pretty similar."

"You mean Shelly, of course." Penny grinned at how loving she sounded. As abrasive and tough as she may be, Mary Cooper was fiercely loyal to her youngest boy. She somehow managed to sound already perturbed and protective in the same breath.

"The boy I'm watching is exactly like Sheldon. Just miniaturized." She rolled her eyes. How painfully true.

"Well, there's no one exactly like my Shelly, but if he's even remotely similar to him, back the way he was, well-," she trailed off for a moment and Penny grinned. "You're going to find my son a lot more tolerable from now on, that's for darn sure."

"You can say that again," Penny muttered to herself. "How did you deal with him? Sometimes I want to strangle him but other times I want to cuddle him and make it all okay."

"There isn't much dealing to be done. I made sure he didn't fight with Missy, that he ate, and that he didn't have anything that would get us a visit from the ATF or FBI. Other than that I let him go. He never needed much guidance. A bit of watching, but he always did for himself."

"But how do I keep at it? He's so hot and cold, it's painful. One minute he's crying over cuts and the next minute he's throwing tantrums over the TiVo schedule."

"It's easier if you love him. Even easier if you spent thirty six hours in labor with him."

Penny snorted. "So what should I _do_? If I want to do what's right by him..."

"Let him be. The more you try to hold on, the harder he'll struggle."

 

*************

 

Penny had crossed the hall with a bundle of daisies clutched in her right hand. She was smiling but thoroughly confused.

Sheldon had maneuvered two different chairs and was now perched precariously atop the kitchen counter. Trying desperately to reach over the edge of the refrigerator for the Fruity Pebbles she had given him (after 'accidentally' getting an extra box during her trip to the grocery store), earlier in the week.

"Sheldon! What are you doing?" He wobbled and swayed, but she darted across to ease him off the surface and onto his feet before he could fall.

He was bright red and ran off to sit on his spot. She grabbed the cereal, on her tiptoes. She watched him fidget as she pulled out a pair of spoons, some 2% milk, and two bowls.

After pouring them both a bowl, she tilted a head towards where the small pile of flowers laid in the kitchen. "What're those about?"

"I was outside, playing jacks with Howard and doing some casual weeding," he mumbled over crunches of cereal. "Those were pushed back against the wall and weren't getting adequate sunlight. In a matter of time, they would wilt and die. I thought you'd prefer to use them as a centerpiece before that happened."

"I would! That's so thoughtful of you." She grinned.

"Not thoughtful, merely practical."

"Sheldon, they're very pretty flowers. It's definitely some amount thoughtful. In fact, you got me that adorable Dolphin Princess doll, too." She said that second part much slower and as much to herself as to Sheldon.

"I thought you'd like them. Excuse me for being generous!"

He glared at her over a spoonful. Her eyes bugged out slowly. "_Oh, my_ \- Sheldon, of course I like them - that's not the point! Point is: you _like_ me! You have a crush on me!"

"What? Ew! No, I don't! I would never!"

She shook her head, slowly raising from her seat in the overstuffed chair. "Yes you do! Or eleven-year-old you does! I - I can't - I need - I need to go... you're not - you can't... I need to go, _now_." She wandered off dazedly, eyes glazed and not fully paying attention to where she was going, stumbling back into her apartment. Sheldon remained angry and upset on the couch.

He ate her bowl of Fruity Pebbles after he finished his own and tore apart the daisies until the stems made his hands were sore and slippery.

 

*************

 

Leonard found Sheldon bent over his desk, typing an email like he was trying to break the keyboard.

"Hey, little buddy, what are you doing?" He came up behind his chair and leaned over Sheldon. He read an email that Sheldon was writing to one of their chemist colleagues at CalTech. "Did you figure it out?" his voice crinkled with excitement.

"Yes, I discovered the exact components of the goo. I am now writing him to tell him that tomorrow, you will be in the lab to make the necessary adjustments and create a suitable antidote."

"Me?"

"Well, yes, I can't exactly trust anyone else to do it to my standards." Leonard rubbed Sheldon's head, smiling.

"What's with this new rush to be big again?" He stopped typing to look Leonard in the eyes. He saw the fear he knew big Sheldon hid. He saw the complete dependence on his ability to care for him that Sheldon would normally never admit to.

"I can't be eleven any longer," was all he said before turning around and throwing himself in his email with the powers of concentration Sheldon hadn't had since he had been transformed. Leonard was worried, scared for his friend's sudden but intense change of heart. He would have to talk to Penny about this.

 

*************

 

The first time someone knocked, Penny was in the shower. She heard him at the door, but continued showering, figuring that whoever it was wasn't that important or would come back later.

The second time someone knocked, Penny was in the middle of combating a small kitchen fire. She had accidentally set some of her mail on fire, again. The knocking at the door continued as she threw potfuls of water over the stack of burning bills.

"Coming," she screamed over the hiss of the tap on the highest setting, filling the pot again. "Just give me a sec."

The knocking stopped and Penny breathed a sigh of relief. With the mail just a pile of ashy water on the stove top, she retreated to the door to see who it was. She threw the door open only to find no one there. Penny leaned out of the door frame to inspect the hall. There was no one in sight and the door to the boys' apartment was closed. She almost missed the note taped to her front door. Whoever had put it there had posted it at an odd height, but it caught her attention when she brushed against it as she went to pull the door to. Penny pulled the note off of the door and unfolded it. It read simply: _we need to talk_.

Leonard's phone rang through to voice mail the first time she called, so Penny set her cell phone on the coffee table and watched another rerun of _Scrubs_ before she dialed again. She held her breath as the phone rang and rang. Leonard picked up just before his answering machine message kicked in.

"Penny?"

"Yeah, it's me. You wanted to talk?"

"No, but we probably should," he sounded distracted and there was shuffling on the other end of the line followed by the shutting of a door. Leonard's voice was suddenly louder, with a distinct echo.

"Where are you?"

Leonard sighed, "I'm in the bathroom. The last thing I want is Sheldon stealing my phone."

"Why would he steal your phone?"

"I'm not supposed to be making calls--I'm supposed to be concentrating. We're in the middle of the prep..."

"For what?"

"The thing is--Sheldon's found the cure. We're at the lab now."

"He's going to be regular sized again?" Penny asked, still not quite believing Leonard's claim.

"That's the idea."

She took a deep breath. "Do you want me to come?"

Leonard hesitated on the other end of the line, weighing the benefits of Penny's presence. "It think it's better that you don't come."

"Well, when will you be back?"

"I don't know." She could hear banging on Leonard's end and a good deal of indecipherable yelling. "Look Penny, I've got to go. Could you get our mail, just in case?"

"Sure."

"Thanks, Penny."

She waited with the phone to her ear until Leonard hung up, then threw it down on the coffee table and went to crawl back into bed.

 

*************

 

Penny hadn't heard from Sheldon or Leonard for three straight days. She had thought about knocking on their door several times but, ever since that conversation with Leonard, she hadn't felt exactly welcome anymore.

She woke up just like any other day, looking at her alarm clock to see that she had overslept. She ran out of bed and tripped over the doll Sheldon had bought for her.

_Had his antidote succeeded?_ She didn't know, but she knew that after running out on him like that, she couldn't see him the same, big or small. She picked up the doll and sat it up on the shelf she had cleared off for it in her room. She had set up all of the Princess' trapping like a mini display shelf of his... what? Care for her? So that she could remember what it was like to be given something of the heart, not looking for a more visceral gift in return? So she could remember what it was like to be important to someone?

Was it selfish to feel a bit sad that she wouldn't be seeing that side of Sheldon, anymore? Maybe it really was pointless, to hope that the crush Sheldon had developed might transcend age? Were his presents even worth keeping, if that person was now gone?

She didn't know, so she set the shelf under the invisible heading of "_It's just cute, okay?_" like her Hello Kitty! collection that she kept because her mother bought them for her birthday every year or how she still had the Care Bear her daddy had bought her when she had her appendix out.

She was on her way to the shower, grabbing her robe to wear when she got out, when she heard three knocks.

It was Sheldon and it was the first time he'd contacted her since she'd fled. She threw down the towel and robe, considering if it was rude to blatantly ignore his knock. Wondering for a moment if he'd continue beyond his normal set of three. He didn't, her heart sunk.

She practically crawled to the door when she heard him start to walk away. She pressed her eye to the door to see big Sheldon open the door to his apartment and slide in, closing it carefully. The hair on the back of her neck peaked at the sight and she realized that this went far beyond missing his youthful self.

She opened the door, leaning on the jamb regretfully. She should have spoken to him, she knew that. Yet, she still couldn't summon the strength to cross the hall and see if that crush remained, afraid and overwhelmed with how terrified she felt at receiving a negative answer.

She sighed and moved to shut her door, when she caught something sparkling at her feet.

There, on the floor below, was a glass vase brimming with daisies.


End file.
